An Important Note About Your Homeowner's Insurance...

3/25/2018 (Permalink)

Over the years I have found something that concerns me greatly.

As many of you may already know, it is not unusual here in the Florida areas like Winter Garden, Winter Springs, Altamonte and Orlando. Water damage/floods that occur in a home usually involve some mold growth as a consequence. If mold is found, it falls under a special separate category of coverage named Fungi (you can find this if you read your homeowners policy).

The good news is that most insurance carriers in the state of Florida automatically include at least $10,000 in coverage for mold as part of their policy. I will warn you however, even $10,000 may not be adequate for a loss involving a lot of mold that also affects the contents in the home. Please consider calling your insurance agent to up this coverage just in case. Personally, I increased my coverage to $20,000 for my home.

Having said that, not all insurance companies in the state of Florida automatically give you $10,000 in mold coverage.  This is one glaring weakness you need to know about. To be fair to insurance agents, when you apply for coverage with them, they ask you if you want this fungi/mold coverage and it is up to the consumer to accept and decline this. Many consumers do decline this coverage not knowing how important it really is.

Over many years, I visited many claims where the homeowner has had water and mold damage and their insurance carrier was a company that did not automatically include this coverage. When mold is found, I urge the homeowner to call their agent to see if they have the fungi coverage. I would say that 90% of these homeowners find out that they do not have the coverage. This means the homeowner is paying a lot of money out of their own pocket to get the mold remediation done. This is bad enough, but the real anger and frustration occurs when the policyholder finds out that nearly all the other insurance carriers in Florida automatically extend to their policyholder’s the $10,000 in fungi coverage. This really upsets them. Even though it is not the insurance agents fault, they take the brunt of the homeowner’s anger and frustration.

Needless to say, the point of this discussion is to highly encourage all homeowners to call their agent as soon as possible to check on their fungi coverage and to add this coverage to their policy if they do not have it.

2015 Employee Appreciation Dinner

3/30/2016 (Permalink)

Our Employee Appreciation Cake & Cupcakes

In January of 2016 we hosted an appreciation dinner for our employees and their families. This event is held yearly, as we feel it is important to show just how much they mean to us.

Without this team and their families we would not be able to help so many in our community when disaster strikes their home or business. Many of our technicians spend countless hours away from their families in order to help others on a regular basis.

This year's event was catered by Apple Spice Junction and was held at the Lakeside Reception Hall in Orlando. We had a DJ and a photo booth, and based on the photos and the dancing we'd say they were enjoyed by all!

Thank you again to our amazing staff for all that you do year round!!

Orlando Heart Walk- Orlando, FL

3/30/2016 (Permalink)

A few years ago our team participated in the Orlando Heart Walk. We enjoyed going out as a team and walking for a good cause.   After all, we can all use some extra time outside in the beautiful Florida weather! 

The Heart Walk is a recurring event that is put on by the American Heart Association in an effort to raise funds and celebrate progress in this country's fight again heart diseases and stroke, which are the country's #1 and #5 killers respectively.

In 2016 the American Heart Association expects more than 1 Million walkers in 350 events - that's quite a turn out! To take part in the Orlando Heart Walk visit their web site at http://greaterorlandoheartwalk.kintera.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=1150110

Christian Help

12/24/2015 (Permalink)

-Contributed By Scott Tracy

One of my “close-to-my-heart” charities I work with is Christian Help here in Casselberry Florida. I first got to know them through my Church Northland. I noticed in the lobby that they had a big box marked “Food Pantry”. Obviously this was to collect donations from the congregation. I also noted in Northland’s bulletin that they were not only asking for food donations but also asked for volunteer’s to deliver this food to Christian Help down the road. I thought this would be a great volunteer opportunity to do with my young boys at the time, something we could do together.

 After delivering our first food collection to Christian Help, I was able to understand the full spectrum of what Christian Help did for the community. Not only did they provide groceries to families in need, they also provided employment training and help to those that were unemployed or under-employed. Over the years I maintained my relationship with Christian Help mostly with donations and Christmas gifts for kids in December.

 Once my company opened up the Construction Division, we realized that we could also help in this area. To be frank, Christian Help poured most of their money into charity, food, and people. One of the consequences of doing this was an office building and warehouse in great need of maintenance, repairs, and improvements. I decided to do a walkthrough of both, and as expected, the office staff, while appreciative of the offer to improve their work areas, asked instead that I focus on the warehouse/food pantry area that serves the public.

 We were honored to address some much needed help with putting up new walls, improving the public waiting area, and expanding their storage area. It has been a wonderful thing for us here at SERVPRO but also for the subcontractors that came in at our instruction. The next step will be donating brand new mobile stainless steel storage racks for their food bins. This will happen after the first of the year.

 The staff at Christian Help has been great and appreciative. They indicated that many people and companies have stopped by over the years promising help, but only a small percentage have actually followed through with the verbal commitment. Since Christian Help is less than a mile away from our office, it is a daily reminder to us of the less fortunate and I look forward to a long relationship with this worthy organization. Next year……we start looking at the front office and their needs.